The state of council houses

[BraidyBee]

Aibu to wonder why the majority of people in council and housing association properties don’t look after them? Or at least why they don’t in my area. I live in a nice town in a relatively nice area and after years of being in private rented me, my dh have been offered a council property. We were offered one five years ago but refused it outright due to the state of it and the amount of money (at least 5k) it would ha e cost to fix ie full of damp and mold, plaster hanging off the walls, kitchen and bathroom falling apart and it was absolutely filthy etc.

I’ve since viewed five properties locally with friends and family that they have been offered and they’ve all been in a similar state. Then on Friday we viewed the house we’ve been offered. I went with no expectations and i was right to ad I would have been extremely disappointed. I didn’t expect to walk into a palace and I would have been fine with the fact it was basic and a blank canvas, ready for us to put our own mark on it, but omg! The plastering again was in right state, the carpets had brown stains which were either shit marks or cig burns. The bathroom absolutely stunk with mould in the corners and on the ceiling, the stairs walls up the stairs were black stained, the kitchen units were all stained chipped and marked. The garden was full of waste, cigarettes butts, glass, rubbish and all sorts. All the paint work was also chipped and filthy, tiles were broken in the bathroom and kitchen and in general it was horrid.

I have friends that have left council properties and bought their own houses and they left their houses immaculate for the next tenants. Is it really too much to ask for people to look after their homes and to have a certain degree of pride in them. I know people in council properties are in general less wealthy than people who own their own homes but come on, some of these people have been in their homes years and have let them rot instead of slowly
investing money into them.

Don’t get me wrong I’m greatful to be offered a property and have no issue what’s so ever with spending money on it to decorate and carpet but why the hell should people like me who take pride in their homes have to shell out for new door frames to be put in, for new plaster work that you can tell has recently been done but not looked after, for a new bathroom, new kitchen cupboard doors etc. It’s a joke.

Financial pressures and chaotic lifestyles can have an impact. DH is a small scale property developer and its not unusual for repossessions to be in a mess.

However, structural problems like broken door frames, damp and significant damage to plasterwork (replastering need not just a polyfilla job) would surely fall to the council.

I would check what comes under their remit in the tenancy agreement

I know what you mean OP. I live on a council estate (private renting) and i've noticed the council tenants opposite and next door don't look after their gardens etc. Next door has yellow blinds from smoking, the mum has a teenage son and works 2 days a week but never mows the lawns and it looks awful. Another family have dumped a box of kids toys by the front gate - they have been there for months.

No matter how poor or skint you are - it's no excuse for not having a clean home and taking pride in keeping it clean and looking after what you have.

When we left our HA FFFlat in a supported Housing complex we had over the 8 yrs we had been there laid new wooden floors and fitted good quality blinds and tiled the bathroom from top to bottom,it was delightful and we would have been happy to stay there but for my OHs illness,we where offered a bungalow which we viewed and accepted and the council refitted the damaged kitchen and wetroom and we arranged for floors to be refitted along with new blinds.
When we had moved out we received a bill from the council for the removal of the wooden floors and blinds to the flat the bill was £340.00 and we had to pay it.
We spoke to the single man who took over the tenancy and he was mortified he wasn't given the option of keeping the fitting we had left behind as he was unemployed and starpped for cash such a waste.

^ strapped for cash ^ sorry for typo.

I was brought up in a council property. My Mum lived in it for 30 odd years. It was beautifully maintained and decorated by my Mum who was quite the dab hand at painting and papering. She also worked 5 jobs. She turned a wasteland into beautifully landscaped front and back gardens. And brought up two kids on her own. She saved up and put in her own kitchen but when she died this ended up in a skip... Over the years she earned the right to buy the house at a massive discount but was adamant that it should go to someone else because she was a socialist to her fingertips. In the end it was the last council property in the village and had a massive waiting list. My brother lives in a council property and the whole estate is beautifully maintained despite being in an former coal mining area with very high unemployment. It's absolute bollocks to say that council tenants have different priorities. And insulting. And snobby.

In all walks of life there are those who take care of what they have and those that don’t. I don’t think it matters if they have money or not. It’s just about what matters to them. Whilst houses get worn out, damp occurs due to bad maintenance etc what I don’t understand is letting them get filthy and leaving them that way, whether you’re selling or renting. That’s just disrespectful.

In all walks of life there are those who take care of what they have and those that don’t

That’s true. My dad is minted, crazy minted, yet doesn’t give a shit about “stuff”. He’s not dirty or anything, but to him a home and car are for using not for looking at. Mum tempered his slovenliness, but she died last year, and he’s just given up trying so I do it for him.

I'm saddened but not surprised by the snobbery and judgement shown by some on this thread. Seems to be the way too many in this country are going. No empathy, or thought, just trial Daily Mail style, where a single anecdote about one person's attitude and/or actions is enough to damn thousands.

For those talking about people you know with disabilities/fleeing DV etc and living in social housing, they can apply to the local probation area to have a community payback group come out and do the gardens (they will be supervised by a member of staff) , they often do work like this as well as schools, sheltered accommodation etc

Nope. Not always. In my area there is no option for this, nor do they help disabled council tenants with gardens.

I've just been moved from a council property with a 50m garden that was all fast growing meadow grass, because I'm in a wheelchair and physically can't go outside due to steps at the front and back.

There was absolutely no help available to me. I tried everything and everyone. The garden wasn't able to be maintained therefore it went onto disrepair.

I'd also like to point out that I have values, despite being a council tenant . I'm highly educated, I'm a teacher and I was very wealthy until things went tits up.

Not every council tenant treats their properties badly and some that do have no choice.

This place gets worse every day.

I live in social housing. It probably looks a bit neglected but it actually looks tonnes better than when we first moved in. Sometimes the repair jobs cause more damage as the landlord repair men aren't always the best. You do get some who will trash the place but mostly it is just people doing the best they can with very little and often people with health issues who may struggle with gardening and cleaning but who aren't quite bad enough to qualify for help.

No matter how poor or skint you are - it's no excuse for not having a clean home and taking pride in keeping it clean and looking after what you have

You'd better tell the disabled and mentally ill they have no excuse then.

Some reasons why people may be unable to maintain their homes:

• lack of cash
• ill health and/or disability
• old age
• chaotic lifestyles often due to ill health and/or disability (including learning disabilities, mental health and addiction)

If you're struggling with the above* then maintaining a house probably isn't going to be high on your priorities.

• not that everyone in council houses is struggling with these, or that those in private houses never do. But given how council housing is prioritised these issues are likely to be more prevalent among those in it.

"but people still believe it's a universal service"

people still believe that social housing is subsidized. The subsidy was removed in 2010 as was featured on Dispatches recently.

IME people believe what they want to believe.

I get what you're saying, we have a council house which was disgusting when we moved in, we have spent a lot of time and effort to make it look decent. I also know a lot of other people in council houses who keep them immaculately. There are people I know who own their houses who live like pigs, therefore YABU to generalise like this!!

I have sympathy, but where does personal responsibility start? I feel genuine compassion for those in dire straits, but how hard is it to just keep a property clean to even a basic standard?

I was in the military and lived in military housing. There was a very strict march in and out process where you always inherited an immaculate house and had to hand it back in the same state. If worked well.

redrunbluerun, I have knowledge of forces housing too, Councils/HAs do not work the same at all.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/13/housing-uk-military-families-appalling-mps-report-mod-carillionamey-no-heating-rat-infestations

I live in a HA home.

Its clean, but a lot of the doors have fallen off and the HA refuse to fix them unless i pay £100...per door!
I had to complain monthly for 7 years before they would fix the floor in the downstairs loo, which was broken when i moved in.

The plastering is horrific and a mess, but they refuse to sort that.
My garden isnt secure despite being in a deprived area with a high crime rate. I cant afford to do this myself, so although neat, i cant do much with it because it would get destroyed by the local yobs. (And yes, i could phone the police, but all my hard work would still have been wasted)
I have damp that they tell me just to bleach.
And windows that don't open which they also refuse to fix.
My kitchen floor is uneven.
It took them 4 years to put raduators upstairs, then when they did, they caused a leak and damaged the floor, which they then took another year to fix.

This is all on the HA, not me.

Royal these tenants are also having a window problem.
sprucecourtaction.wordpress.com/2018/07/27/windows-failing-out-of-highrise/

Must be fucking wonderful in the intense searing heat we have just had.

how hard is it to just keep a property clean to even a basic standard

Well, for two years of my life, I was so chronically ill that I couldn't lift my head, so was bedridden the whole time. As I wasn't entitled to any benefits, my DH had to feed me, dress me, wash me, do the same for DS, do the school runs, shopping, laundry, cooking, admin stuff and hold down a full time job, all while worrying about me and being under intense pressure himself. Dusting was the last thing on his mind.

When I progressed to a wheelchair, I couldn't get down the stairs in our council house, never mind up the front path steps or up the back path steps. I was trapped upstairs for over a year. Dusting was the last thing on my mind.

If you're ill, disabled or mentally ill, a basic standard is very hard.

HTH.

That sounds horrific, what happened to you? That must have been awful. Like I said those in dire straits (I.e you) have my sympathy.
It’s perfectly able people leaving dog poo and cigarette butts all over the place.
My friend rented a property out, unfortunately he died, and his poor parents had to deal with the house which had been left in an absolute shit state. So as well as their grief they had to deal with that.

What does HTH mean?

I've just spent two weeks in hospital, I was in for a week in June too.
I have interviews coming up for my PIP and ESA.
My home might not be what others would like, but it's warm and comfortable.
I have better things to worry about than a stain on my carpet, or some ripped off wallpaper that harms no one.

It means "Hope that Helps" or "Happy to Help"

Spinal injury and PTSD. It was horrific, still in a wheelchair but at least I can get around now I'm on one level.

Able people don't have an excuse, but there are lots that aren't, unfortunately. Personally I think the people who are doing shit to council houses like painting kitchen cupboards, covering everything in glitter and fablon and gluing broken mirror shards everywhere are the ones that should be ashamed - the next tenants are the ones who have to deal with it!

Umm, have you spent money upgrading the kitchens and bathrooms in your private rental properties OP? If you pay full rent/council tax in a HA/council property it's about £50mth less than a private rental in my area. The private rentals come complete semi furnished- carpets/white goods (which save a fortune). I've had a council tenancy 18yrs. Due to the changes in legislation they have to be let/upgraded to a standard (I was offered my property after 8 refused, the workmen stated it should never have been let in the state it was in). However, you sometimes have to make the best of things and a long term tenancy is nothing to be sniffed at! Paint is cheap and you put in the effort if you want to reap the benefits.